FACE family adventures - Pirates
by Imagimanga
Summary: The family is cleaning out the attic, but when they find an old pirate chest in the corner, nostalgia and childhood memories have other plans.


**AN: Inspired by two pictures I saw. (I have no idea where they were from. I'm so sorry. I don't even know where I found it.)**

* * *

"Where do I put this?" Francis asked. He held a gray plush alien doll in his hand. The entire family was cleaning out the attic.

"Put it in the throw away pile," Arthur said once he saw the object.

"What?!" Alfred screamed. He dropped the box he was carrying, causing Matthew to yell out in surprise. "You can't get rid of that!"

"You're not using it anymore," Arthur told him. "Besides, you're too old for that thing."

"Tony," Alfred grumbled, "isn't a thing!"

"What about these?" Francis asked, trying to direct the topic to something else. This time he held a small basketball and a worn-down hockey stick.

"That?" Alfred thought. "That can be thrown away."

"I don't need it," Matthew said.

"Put it in the keep pile," Arthur answered. Everyone stared at Arthur. Alfred especially glared in accusation. Arthur's gaze turned confused. "What?"

"So I don't get to keep Tony," Alfred fumed, "but you get to keep our old toys for the pure sake of nostalgia?!"

"You don't remember your first basket with this?" Arthur rambled on to defend himself. "It was one of the best moments of your life! You couldn't stop talking about it! Weeks and weeks after the shot you would still talk about it! You were so confident and-!"

"Adorable!" Francis ended. Arthur nodded. "You were so cute!"

"And that's why we're keeping both of them," Arthur concluded.

"You can't keep the hockey stick," Matthew said. "It's old. I can't use it anymore-"

"You don't remember your first goal with this?" Arthur rambled on to defend himself.

Dad, Matthew thought with a sigh, stop.

"It was one of the best moments of your life! You made the cutest smile ever! You wouldn't stop smiling about it! Weeks and weeks after the goal you would still smile about it! You were so cute and-"

"Happy!" Francis ended. Arthur nodded. "You were so ecstatic!"

"But it's so old. . . ." Matthew mumbled.

"How come we have no say in this?" Alfred asked.

"Then for now," Francis said, "we'll put all three of them in the discussion pile." Francis placed the three objects in a new spot next to an old, brown chest. It was similar to a treasure chest, and it even had ornate paintings on it. The paint had started to peel off the old wood. "Should we throw out this chest, too?"

Arthur, Alfred, and Matthew moved to see what Francis was talking about and the three instantly gasped. "NO!"

Francis jumped in surprise and suddenly found himself fighting against the rest of his family. "What are you talking about? It's old and nothing's probably in it."

"DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT'S IN THAT?" Arthur yelled out abruptly. "MEMORIES ARE STORED IN THAT CHEST!"

"We would always play pirates with that!" Alfred and Matthew shouted.

"What's so special about playing pirates with an old chest?" Francis asked.

"It's not just an old chest," Arthur said. "I gave it to them!"

Francis stared at Arthur in confusion. The staring game continued for an absurd amount of time until Francis' face contorted into a state of shock. "You mean that stupid pirate chest you had? The one when you were a kid?"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Arthur cried. "Not only do you not remember, but you won't stop making fun of it!"

"What exactly is in there?" Francis asked aloud. He turned to face the chest and opened it. His jaw dropped in horror as he saw that everything in the chest was dusty and had cobwebs inside it. "It's all dust and webs!" Francis and Arthur continued to bicker back and forth as the two boys knelt beside the chest.

Matthew and Alfred smiled as they looked into the chest. Memories _were_ stored in that old thing.

* * *

"What is that, Daddy?" Alfred said, his hands pulling at Arthur's shirt hem. "What is it?"

"What is it?" Matthew softly followed up. He pattered towards his father as the three climbed down the stairs. "Is it a chest?" The two five-year-olds scuttled behind their father, in hopes to get an answer and their dose of fun for the day.

"Hold up, boys. Let's set this on the floor first, shall we?" He placed the chest on the carpeted floor and heaved a relieved sigh. The chest was a bit on the heavy side, and he was being careful to not hurt the boys as he walked down the stairs. He flashed a grin to the boys. "What do you think is in here...?"

"Is it treasure?!" Alfred gasped. He touched the chest and stopped. Alfred lifted his hands off and made a disgusted face. "Ick! Dust!"

"Is there a map inside?" Matthew wondered. He poked the chest with his left index finger as he was holding Kuma in his right arm. "Will it lead us to the treasure?"

Arthur couldn't help but laugh at the boys' wonders. They were so close to the answer. He lifted the latch and opened the chest. With a creak, the lid thumped to the floor. "Look!"

The boys crowded around the chest and gasped. Inside of the chest were numerous items including costumes and wooden weapons. There were accessories such as eye patches, hats, and scarves. In the back were plush parrot dolls to ride on your shoulder. Numerous wooden swords decorated with old paint stacked on top of each other. On top of the entire mountain was an old piece of paper. Alfred picked it up and grinned.

"Is this a treasure map?" he asked Arthur. His cerulean eyes shone as he tugged on his father's shirt. "Can we play together? Can we?"

Arthur picked up the bundle of clothes and smiled. "After I wash these dirty clothes. You don't want to be covered in dust, right?"

Alfred made 'ick' noises and a disgusted face. He continued doing this as Arthur walked to the washing machine in the back of the house. Alfred kept at it, making faces in front of Matthew. Matthew joined in, and the boys made their 'ick' noises while digging through the chest. The two happily pulled out some toy swords and parrots and showed them to the other.

"Look, Alfred!" Matthew pulled out a green stuffed parrot. "It goes on your shoulder like the pirates!"

"There are so many swords!" Alfred laughed.

The two continued pulling out toys. They stopped when they saw something shining from inside the chest. The two looked at each other before fishing the shining thing out from underneath the pile of toys. They gasped when they saw that they had found a golden coin. And they were more surprised to find that it was only of many from underneath the toys.

"Mattie, there are so many!" Alfred pulled out more coins and placed them on the floor. The boys pulled out all the coins they could find and started counting. It took them a while for them to count all pieces of golden coins. In the end, after thirty minutes of counting and recounting (thanks to Alfred messing up five times), they found seventy-one gold coins.

"Seventy-one!" Matthew announced. "Seventy-one gold coins!"

"Matthew! Alfred! Come here!" The boys turned their heads to the direction of the voice and yelled out a response before running over to their father in the back of the house. The two giggled and chatted to each other as Arthur smiled and pulled off their clothes and exchanged them with recently cleaned pirate costumes.

"It's warm..." Matthew gushed, holding a red bandanna to his face. "It's so warm, Alfred."

Alfred did the same with the vest Arthur was holding out for him to wear. "It's warm, Daddy!"

"Why don't you put those on instead of rubbing them on your face?" Arthur asked, letting Alfred take the vest. He moved over to Matthew to help him put on the bandanna. "Need help?" Matthew nodded and gave the cloth to his father. Arthur tied the bandanna around Matthew's head, sometimes asking if it was snug enough.

"Look! Look!" Alfred shouted. He held up a wooden sword and stroke a victorious pose. "Do I look cool?" he said with a grin.

Matthew responded back with a yes and also held out a wooden sword. "I have a sword, too!"

As soon as Alfred and Matthew had their costumes on, they bolted out the room towards their chest and gold. They ran to the living room and suddenly came to face a horrible sight. Alfred quickly turned to Matthew with a confused and shocked look. "Where did the chest go?"

"The gold's gone, too," Matthew mumbled. He put on a determined face. "Did someone take it?"

"Daddy didn't do it..." Alfred stated, "so it must have been Papa!" Matthew nodded in agreement. Alfred pulled on his brother's arm before continuing. "I'll go tell Daddy that Papa stole the chest! You go and see where Papa took it!" With two nods and a grin, the two set off on their adventure.

* * *

Half an hour earlier...

Francis heard Arthur heaving a heavy object around the second floor and the boys scuttling around him. He peeked out the office door and saw the three descending the stairs. Francis thought about helping Arthur with the chest, but knew that it was better to leave them be. They needed the time together, and he didn't want to ruin the entire thing with him arguing with Arthur. The man set the chest on the floor of the living room and Francis backed a bit away from the door. He liked spying on them. Besides, it wasn't like Arthur does the same when Francis spent time with the boys. After chuckling softly at the sight of the old and nostalgic chest, he turned away to get back to work.

About thirty minutes had passed when Arthur called the boys over to him. Francis smirked to himself and peered through the door's crack. Alfred and Matthew ran towards Arthur and Francis made his move. Quietly, he rummaged through the chest. He then remembered what the chest was for. The chest itself was over fifty years old, but the contents were only around thirty years old. He smiled softly when the thought of Arthur telling him about the chest swirled in his head. It was important to him, and Arthur hoped that his kids could someday play with the chest and its contents.

An idea struck Francis. He stifled a loud laugh and piled the scattered gold coins back into the chest. Francis latched it closed and lugged the chest up the stairs and into his and Arthur's room. Francis didn't want to be left out of all the fun.

Now, Francis chuckled when he heard his sons' outburst of confusion. He listened behind his bedroom door quietly. The boys finished their conversation and Francis walked to the chest in front of the bed. He waited for Matthew's feet to patter closer to his door. Francis plastered a grin on his face.

The door creaked open slowly and a small hand was placed on the door. "Papa?"

"Yes?"

Matthew let one eye rest on his father's figure. "Did you take the chest?" He cocked his head and the ceiling light reflected in his eye.

Francis had to shake his hands to keep from hugging his adorable son. "Hm? What chest?"

The boy puffed his cheeks. "The pirate chest!"

"Oh..." Francis drawled. "You mean this one?" He moved away from the chest and gestured to it as if it was part of a grand stage act. Matthew nodded hesitantly.

"May we have it back please?"

"You're a very polite pirate," Francis said with a smile. "Why don't you come get it?" He watched Matthew tense up and then relieve. The little boy pushed the door open a little more and walked into the room.

"Please, Papa?" He wrung his hands and looked up at his father.

Francis knelt in front of Matthew. "Do you want to play pirates with me?" he proposed. Francis watched for any sign of a response. Then Matthew nodded.

* * *

"Daddy! Daddy!" Alfred jumped up and down to grab Arthur's attention. "Daddy, you have to help!"

Arthur looked down at the small face. "What?"

"Papa stole the chest!" Alfred explained. He tugged at Arthur's shirt sleeve. "He even took the gold! You have to help!" Arthur raised a brow.

"Alright, then," he answered. He grinned before continuing. "Ready to get back your gold, captain?"

* * *

"All of you will have to get through me before getting the chest, _Matthieu!_ " Francis winked and pulled a wooden sword out of the chest. "Ready?"

Alfred burst open the doors and he and Arthur walked into the room. "Mattie! We've come to save you!" Alfred ran over to Francis and waved his toy sword around. "You're not getting away!"

Alfred swung his sword at Francis' stomach and pressed the point of the sword to his waist. "I got you!" Francis bit back a laugh.

"Oh, no!" Francis dramatically sighed. "I've been beaten!" He flopped onto the bed, pulling Matthew with him. The little boy yelped out in surprise, but that was before he started erupting in fits of shrieks and laughter. Francis was tickling Matthew's sides and the man couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

Alfred yelled out a declaration to save his brother and jumped onto the bed. He tried pushing Francis' arms away from Matthew, but the man sneaked his fingers to Alfred's neck. Alfred also shrieked and laughed before trying to push his father's hands away from himself. Arthur quickly moved to the bed and tickled Francis on his side.

"Wha-" Francis dropped Matthew and Alfred to push Arthur away. "Hey!"

"You deserve it! We're taking back our treasure!" he huffed. He released Francis and grabbed one side of the chest. Alfred and Matthew jumped off the bed and bounded to the other side of the chest. The two heaved the other side up and called Arthur to bring the chest back downstairs. Francis smiled and shook his head. He picked up the chest with one breath and turned to his family.

"Need help with this?"

Arthur let out a sigh and followed Francis down the stairs with the two five-year-olds scuttling behind him.

* * *

"No, no, no!" Alfred slapped the sword away from Matthew and grumbled. "Now it's fair!"

"Your the one who threw away your sword, so you shouldn't be complaining about what's fair!" Matthew yelled. He launched himself at his brother and tackled him to the floor. Alfred struggled under the weight of his brother then rolled themselves over, Matthew now being crushed by Alfred.

"Stop eating so much!"

"Rude!"

"Get off of me!" Matthew grabbed Alfred's shirt collar and yanked it down, bringing Alfred to the floor. Matthew sat on top of his brother and held a victorious smile on his face until Alfred pushed him off. Matthew landed on his stomach and Alfred laid on Matthew's back. Alfred struggled to keep Matthew pinned to the floor and Matthew struggled to push Alfred off his back.

"I didn't take it, Alfred!" Matthew seethed. He jabbed Alfred's head with his elbow and grumbled.

"There were thirty-two coins and then something happened to one of them! Where is it, Matthew?"

"Probably in that heap of dirty clothes!" Matthew shouted. He dragged himself out from under Alfred's crushing weight and sighed. "And if I did take your money, I would have one more than what I'm supposed to have in my pile!"

"You're hiding it, damn pirate!"

Down in the first floor, Arthur and Francis warily looked up at the ceiling in their office. What were those two up to?

* * *

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed! I got a bit unmotivated during the 'fight' scene so I hurried to get it over with. Sorry! Have some cookies!**


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